By Don's Early Light

You don’t have to be a basketball fan to appreciate what will be happening tonight in the Rivendell gym. But don’t take my word for it; go on up there yourself tonight and see first hand what happens when a few caring people put their hearts and minds together to make a difference. You always hear about how athletes are so self-centered, how athletics is such a negative drain on resources. Don’t believe what you hear. Believe what you see, instead. And when you walk

It’s been called ‘“the Castle on the Parkway” — a reference to the imposing structure of DeWitt Clinton High School and its proximity to the Mosholu Parkway in the Bronx. I just called it Clinton. In a couple of weeks, the city of New York may just call it closed. According to a letter I just received from the school’s alumni organization, the city’s Department of Education Progress Report has given Clinton a grade of F for the past two years and will vote later

Twice within a span of six hours on Saturday, Dartmouth College’s basketball teams had a chance to make some real noise in the Ivy League. Twice, the Big Green had title contender Harvard on the ropes. Both the men’s and women’s teams held double-digit leads in the waning moments of the second half. Both teams held victory in their grasp. But in the end, only one held up its end of the hoop bargain. When the buzzer sounded at the Ray Lavietes Basketball Pavilion in

So tell me — this is an American hero? What is our obsession with lying crud like Lance Armstrong? Why are we wasting so much angst over a man who deserves only our derision and spite? Is it like rubbernecking on the interstate when you pass an accident? You just gotta look? People ask me, “What do you think of Lance Armstrong?” I tell them: I don’t think anything about him. Not a damn thing. He doesn’t deserve our thoughts. He lied, cheated and deceived

There is no question that Hartford High has the best football team in the entire state of Vermont. The numbers bear that out. The little school that could has dominated the Green Mountain gridiron, winning the last three straight Division I state titles and a total of 10 division crowns in Mike Stone’s 26-year tenure. They do it with the same hard-nosed system, passing the torch from one grown-up group of Mini-Canes to the next generation. The plays are the same; the families are the

In case you didn’t have enough the first time around, here is a second helping of the Alphabet Awards, designed to recognize some of the accomplishments of Upper Valley athletes during the past year: A: Andrew Gamble. Lebanon veteran track coach is inducted into the New Hampshire Track & Field Coaches Organization Hall of Fame. B: Bowling. Hartford and Oxbow were crowned champions in Vermont’s inaugural, unofficial bowling season. C: Carl ‘Chiefy’ Desilets retires as the Stevens girls basketball coach after eight years and bringing

It has been a year of triumph and accomplishment for Upper Valley athletes and teams — from Olympic feats to collegiate glory, to the high school record setters to the dogged weekend warriors. To honor all those, we offer a far-from-comprehensive list of some of the notable accomplishments from the past year as a way to acknowledge the success and participation of all those who have made the athletic scene the better for their involvement. It’s just a little way of saying thanks and offering

You better sit down. I have it on good authority that the tornado blowing through the collegiate athletic conference landscape will soon touch down right here in our neighborhood. Don’t look now, but the Ivy League is about to get shaken up like a vodka martini. I’m sure you haven’t heard yet because the Ivy League is doing the best it can to keep this under wraps for as long as possible. After all, breaking up this old gang of mine would send seismic shocks

As you listen to Rich Parker describe the events last month on Interstate 91 around Windsor, Conn., you realize just how many ways this thing could have gone bad. And believe me, there were many ways. But the subtle change in his voice as he tells the story — a mixture of awe, reverence and a touch of humility perhaps — let’s you know that there was, in fact, despite the chance for disaster, a happy and safe ending. So you’ll have to excuse Parker